The Art of Weaponry
by funbunny99
Summary: Because it's always fun to play with sharp and shiny objects. The weapons that mark Tenten's growth into a self-assured young woman.
1. Kunai

Kunai were the most common weapon produced by her family trade.

She had been playing stealth with her sister—thirteen years old and just turned chunin, Kanako had been eager to teach her little sister everything she knew. So when Tenten was caught hiding in the forge and playing with a kunai knife, Kanako was quick to lead Tenten to the training fields—to the dismay of their mother, and to the delight of their father once Tenten's aptitude from her father's side was found.

Soon, kunai were also the most common—and only—weapon in her hands.


	2. Shuriken

On her fourth birthday, Tenten received a set of shuriken from her sister and started practicing. Their usual field taken over by a genin team, Kanako decided to introduce Tenten to the forest, where they encountered two siblings.

That was the first of many times the Kanemoto sisters trained with Uchiha brothers. Not that anyone besides the four of them knew. It was as if they knew, instinctively, that they held something precious and beautiful, that couldn't be shared. Besides, it wouldn't do if word got out that commoners threw shuriken better than _the _Uchihas, even if they were older.


	3. Kusarigama

With Tenten's short range and height, it wasn't long before Father fashioned a miniature kusarigama for her. For once, it seemed, she didn't have an immediate aptitude in it, as deigned by Sasuke's muffled giggles watching her struggle to untangle herself from the chain while ensuring the spiked weight and sickle didn't cut her.

The next time they played stealth, though, he wasn't laughing when two meters of heavy chain shot out of the bushes, whipping around to lash him tightly to a tree. The spikes thudded into the bark next to his ear.


	4. Hanbo

Itachi winced imperceptibly as Tenten landed two solid thumps on each of Sasuke's shins. He did not see the purpose of learning the use of a staff; the weapons and jutsu of a ninja were enough, in his opinion. But, "A shinobi should always be one step ahead of his opponent," Kanemoto-san had lectured.

Said kunoichi suddenly tossed him a thick wooden staff. Unlike most of those used by shinobi, it wasn't capped in metal, nor did it have a core of steel.

"A kunoichi thinks of all situations. A shinobi prepares for all situations the kunoichi tells him to."


	5. Senbon

Tenten frowned. Since she had begun at the academy just over a year ago, it had been obvious that she held and exploited her innate ability to handle weaponry. She had thought she'd made it clear—she was—is—the weapons mistress of their year. So when the solitary Hyuuga prodigy had flicked every single one of his senbon exactly on the 'vital points' of the target log while hers were only second place, "good enough", it was understandable, really, why she was upset. It wasn't her fault she favored the deadly whistle of wind through chain and over blade, and practiced less with the flimsy wooden needles (they wouldn't let academy students handle the metal ones).

But as she watched the Hyuuga and saw a little less of his strict and condescending mask, a little more of the boy who wanted to become a shinobi—in the single-minded determination in his eyes, in the solidity of his stance, in the practiced fluidity with which he shot off another round of perfectly aimed senbon— she thought she understood, and the same desire overcame her to _really_ earn the only thing she had going for her—weaponry.


	6. Katana

_Snap!_

Breathing heavily, Tenten backed off from the tree with the katana stuck in it, its twisted metal gleaming dementedly in the harsh sunlight. With half of her second year as a student done, she was much stronger than she'd thought.

She hiccupped, holding back her sobs, barely. Kanako and her had been dragged to I&T early that morning, and interrogated roughly for information on Uchiha Itachi. At last, they had said why, and the look of betrayal and shock on both of their faces were enough for innocence.

When Sasuke had recovered fully enough, they demanded to speak to him. She could not imagine what he must be feeling, and yet she had not prepared herself enough. His voice, cold, deadly, as he tossed a katana roughly onto the floor, spreading the taint of the blood dried on its tip.

"Your family can only bring hate, because your family makes instruments of death. Your family forged that sword, that sword forged my destiny as an Avenger. _Destroy it_."

So she grabbed it and ran, and ran, until she was past the place where they trained, to where she now stood, with the resolve to never again use a katana.


	7. Wire

Math was boring. Tenten was a hundred percent body-kinesthetic learner, and the numbers and symbols in her textbook failed to interest her in any way. She wanted to be outside, straining her muscles and pushing herself to be faster, stronger, practicing katas until she was forced to stop, gasping for air. At least, that was her opinion until Sensei had introduced a new element: wire.

Obviously the students were only allowed theoretical examples, but as soon as she was home, Tenten was quick to find some in her father's forge and experiment in the backyard—forbidden from actual training grounds without her sister, off on some mission.

Whatever she tried, however, didn't make the shuriken dance for her fingers, slipping along on the near-invisible strands, instead rubbing her fingers raw. Finally, Tenten looked through her books as a last resort. There was only one short sentence, next to a passage on parabolas: _Optional exercise: Simulate with wire and estimate._

Much as she felt like banging her head against the wall, Kanemoto Tenten was a _weapons mistress_, and she was _not_ going to let some basics beat her. She threw herself into the textbooks, and when she tried again… it was _beautiful._


	8. Fists

The Academy sparring sessions would be so much more entertaining if they'd just let be allowed to utilize anything other than taijutsu. No matter how many times she argued bukijutsu as a branch of the former, the rules stood. Nothing sharp, pointy, and/or potentially life-threatening (in other words, fun) allowed in spars, at least not for the first three years. She couldn't wait for next year.

However, she couldn't argue that it didn't help her improve as a well-balanced kunoichi, and it did help secure her standing as Kunoichi of the Year. The whistle blew. Akito Aburame bowed his loss to the Hyuuga prodigy. "Kanemoto Tenten and Rock Lee!" She blinked, and walked into the ring with a disappointed sigh. The poor boy stubbornly held out hope to be a ninja when he could barely manipulate chakra. It would be an easy win, with no honor.

Then again, watching him dodge and counter some strikes that he shouldn't have as "dead last", even if she was going easy, screw honor, that was for samurai and people with death-wishes. Especially if Lee knew he was at a disadvantage and he gave his best. And so would she.

"Hey, Lee. Good fight."


End file.
